Seconds before he was to present a news bulletin, Afghan television anchor Nisar Nabil put on a black mask as a symbolic protest against Taliban authorities for ordering female presenters to cover their faces on air.
“We are taking a stand in support of our women colleagues,” said Nabil, who works at TOLOnews, Afghanistan’s main private television channel.
“During our live news broadcasts or political shows, we are wearing masks as a protest,” he said, after presenting a bulletin at the channel’s studio in Kabul.
Photo: AFP
Since seizing power last year, the Taliban have imposed a slew of restrictions on women and girls to comply with the group’s austere brand of Islam.
This month Afghanistan’s supreme leader and Taliban head Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a diktat for women to cover up fully in public, including their faces, ideally with the traditional burqa.
The feared Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice ordered female television presenters to follow suit.
After initially defying the order, women presenters are wearing full hijabs and veils that leave only their eyes on view across channels such TOLOnews, 1TV, Shamshad TV and Ariana Television.
However, they have received support from their male colleagues who have launched a campaign to oppose the order.
Male presenters are broadcasting programs on air wearing black masks, sometimes jointly with female colleagues.
“The Taliban want to put pressure on media outlets with these restrictions ... they want media outlets to work according to their plans,” said Nabil, dressed in a blazer, jeans and tie.
Similar scenes unfolded at the offices of 1TV, another leading private channel.
The network’s male presenters and employees wear masks, while women dress in full-body-covering hijabs.
“We are fine with our women presenters wearing Islamic hijabs, but without masks, because it is difficult to conduct a program for three or four hours like that,” said Idrees Faroqi, the channel’s editor-in-chief.
“We are hoping that they revise their decision and remove these restrictions,” he added.
Behind him, a female presenter broadcasts a news bulletin — often wiping out sweat from her face during breaks.
The Taliban officials do not appear to be in favor of rolling back the decree.
“If forcing to wear a tie is correct then why is forcing a hijab wrong?” deputy government spokesman Inamullah Samangani wrote on Twitter this week.
“If a tie can be part of a uniform [on television] why can’t a hijab be?” he said.
A television presenter at 1TV, Mohib Yousufi, said it was just a matter of time before the authorities put similar restrictions on male presenters.
“Many male presenters are now worried that there will be restrictions on them regarding how to dress. I’m worried too,” said Yousufi, who was wearing a black mask and a suit.
Although there are no female presenters at state television, male anchors are airing programs wearing traditional Afghani shalwar kameez.
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